Angela Cave

Travelling is never time wasted

Famous face – and voice – at the Parrot Cage!

What a great surprise on a cold January day to get a surprise visit from my chum gardening guru Matt Biggs from Gardener’s Question Time. He had been filming and recording in the area and as Covid has made catching up in person tricky for a while he popped in to say hi – and needless to say coffee and cake made an appearance and a good time was had by both- he rather appreciated my botanical scarves and we had fun identifying the Latin names! Matt is, as ever, busy writing and recording and his Christmas present Parrots & Peonies scarf was greatly appreciated, jolly chilly gardening in January! www.matthewbiggs.com has more and he writes some great books which are on my bookshelves and are a great inspiration when I have time to get into my own garden!

Just a little touch of Spring to ward off the cold!

 

Well January is about to wave goodbye and in my garden there are little green shoots shivering their way up.  That means that I am busy planning some cheering and beautiful treats for Valentines, Mothering Sunday and Spring in general.

I still have some wonderful warm winter wools and cashmeres as the cold is still very much with us, and have just had a consignment of truly beautiful scarves and shawls but here is a little taste of spring for you……

Happy New Year!

I am now back from the frozen North, such a beautiful way to spend Christmas and I hope that you had a special Christmas too.  I have to say I was very, very glad of the warm soft scarves that I packed – when you are sipping crowberry juice whilst sitting on an ice seat in a snow hotel with the huskies baying in the snow outside, a nice bit of cashmere is very welcome!

I will be in the Shambles in the shop tomorrow, Monday 3rd January and then Wed. 5th Thursday 6th Friday 7th Saturday 8th and then each week except on Sunday and Monday when I am closed.  As usual I will pop any changes on the slate outside the shop and do call or email me if you need something urgently, happy to chat!

Father Christmas gave me some wonderful books on the history of the Kashmir shawl which I have been diving into with great interest.  I can see that some of my traditional designs follow exactly patterns that have been used for hundreds of years and I am learning lots of fascinating things – I will have the books in the shop for anyone who is interested in taking a look, along with lots of photos of India.  Sadly my February trip is on hold due to Covid (again, sigh) but at least parcels are arriving and there are lots of new and gorgeous items on their way!

traditinal shawl design

so pretty and so beautiful

 

The Parrot has landed!

How very exciting- The Parrot Cage has opened in The Shambles, Devizes. Day 2 and just about set up and ready to share my beautiful shawls, scarves and bags from India.  Lots of really stunning designs from traditional pashminas to modern classics – all with the vibrancy and beauty of Indian fabrics.  I will be open Tuesday to Saturday, with the occasional day when I am at a market around Wiltshire so I will post my days weekly so you will know where I am.  This week I am in all week up until Sunday, closed Monday and open all next week – do come and say hello and I am really thrilled to be here and to meet lots of new people.

A little bit of history about cashmere …….

Treats to come…..and a little bit of the history of cashmere.

The Empress Josephine of France might not have been great at choosing partners, but her wardrobe was simply marvellous.  Amongst many treasures, she possessed over 200 beautiful cashmere shawls so was obviously a woman of sartorial taste and elegance!

Cashmere, and its use in clothing, has a long history.  Marco Polo is reputed to have remarked on the fine quality of the woven cloth when he popped into Kashmir on his travels and Kashmiri traders have been sharing their wonderful wares with us for several hundred years.

There are some wonderful images by artists such as William Simpson of the weavers at work. William Simpson –  1823-1899  –  was a Scottish journalist  and water colour artist working as a war correspondent.  In 1859 he was sent by his employers, the Illustrated London News, to cover the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and also to send back sketches. The artist arrived at Calcutta on 29 October 1859 and travelled widely in Northern and Central India and the Himalayas and Kashmir. In February 1862, he returned to England having drawn about 250 sketches which were later published as a book in 1867 and give a wonderful insight into the country and its artisans.

Even Jane Austin was apparently not averse to a fine shawl – very handy when sitting at ones desk writing – I have a cashmere scarf around my neck as I write this, tho that is where the similarity between me and Jane Austen ends, as you might have guessed.

The more traditional designs are simply wonderful, and I have ordered just a few of the very fine large ones which will be winging their way to me shortly.  If we are allowed to have picnics, garden operas, outdoor music and the like then a big snuggly cashmere shawl is very handy on a less than balmy British summer evening.  Should we get lucky and have a hot summer cashmere is great too, it has very good wicking qualities so there is just no excuse not to add one to your wardrobe.  I have also ordered some very fine soft wool pashminas, dyed to order, in the loveliest of pastel shades, plus some modern patterns in silk, silk wool and cotton silk mixes – see the pics below, they are just gorgeous. I will also have some scarves bearing parrots & peonies, how exciting is that!

As soon as I know when I can be out and about again, I will give you dates of where I will be and in the meantime I, like most of us, am dreaming of summer and just a little freedom and I hope that you are all safe and well.

 

Angela

Cavea23@gmail.com

If you want more info, or have a special occasion and want a particular colour match do let me know, I can get shawls, pashminas and scarves dyed to order – there is a little lead time due to delivery from India so do get in touch in good time.

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